The Wine & Indian Food Quotient
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Loading... - Kiaan mahajan
- 17 Jan 2023
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Intricate, nuanced, diverse — and delectable! As impossible as it may seem to fully capture the essence of Indian food in a few words, these undoubtedly come close. While there are many beverages that we’d love to enjoy with our meals, wine is perhaps the last one that comes to mind. How do we go about redefining and accepting this unique pairing in a beer and spirit-loving country? Let’s explore…
In a nation where food tastes vary every 100 kilometres there is no denying that Indian food is incredibly diverse. To many, it is a complex mix of spices, herbs, flavours and ‘chef’s secret’ ingredients. At the same time, these myriad components create a magical fusion, making it one of the most sensational cuisines in the world. Therefore, many of us have been historically and culturally conditioned to enjoy our food on its own, never really seeing the necessity for a beverage to accompany the multitude of flavours in Indian cuisine.
The idea of pairing wine comes into the picture with an awareness that wine is governed by an intricate set of rules that have to be followed. But wine traditionally was not a part of India’s diverse cuisines. How then, can rule-bound pairings apply to Indian food? Drawing parallels from the European rules of pairing food and The Wine & Indian Food Quotient wine can be problematic in the Indian context. Even the most seasoned wine enthusiast and most devoted of us might end up ordering a glass of crisp, chilled lager instead! Accepting that wine and Indian food can be put together on the same table without it seeming like a painfully daunting task is essential to bridge this gap. That acceptance needs to come organically from the consumer, rather than being coerced. It may need tweaking food and wine pairing rules by devising guidelines specific to our cuisine. Read More…
